Timothy L. Jackson (born 1958) is an American professor of music theory who has spent most of his career at the University of North Texas and specializes in music of the eighteenth through twentieth centuries, Schenkerian theory, politics and music. He is the co-founder of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies. In 2020, he became controversial for editing a special issue of that journal containing articles criticizing Philip Ewell's plenary talk "Music Theory's White Racial Frame".[1][2]
Jackson was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in 1958. Since his mother, the artist Sarah Jackson,[citation needed] was an American citizen, he received dual US-Canadian citizenship.
Jackson received his B.A. in music in 1979 from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, his masters in music from Queens College, City University of New York; and his PhD in 1988 from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in music theory. His dissertation, chaired by Professor Carl Schachter, was on "The Last Strauss: Studies of the Letzte Lieder".[3]
Jackson was an assistant professor at Connecticut College from 1990 to 1997. He then became an assistant professor at the University of North Texas (UNT) in 1998 and was promoted to associate professor in 2001, full professor in 2005, and distinguished University research professor in 2011.[4] He is one of the founding editors of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies,[5] and has extensively published on late Romantic music, particularly on Bruckner, Brahms, Sibelius.
In 2020-2021 Jackson was involved in a controversy in relation to the Journal of Schenkerian Studies.